Huge SEO Secret/Tip for getting hits

I just discovered a huge SEO tip, trick and secret. SEO is search engine optimization, and it means tuning your web content so that search engines find it easier, rank your page higher and drive more traffic to your website. Traffic is the key, because I have monetized all of my websites with Google Adsense and the more traffic I get, the more money I make. It is that simple. So traffic is king, and the key is SEO. If the search engines can't find you, you are living in the backwaters and boondocks of the internet where nobody goes. However in my case, it is more like the ghetto of the internet.

So what's the trick? Recent I put up a new blog -- one of many. It usually takes a couple of weeks before Google finds it -- even though I register the blog with Google. And after that, it takes a few months before I have enough content that the search engines regularly find it.

I was therefore surprised to find that I was getting hits just after two weeks. The source was the unlikeliness source that I would have thought of. I put a picture up with every blog entry. If I don't have a pic, I make a graphic with GIMP (a free graphics tool) or Photoshop (which I bought). That is the key -- the graphic or photo.

I then tag the blog or web entry. I put the usual tags that pertain to the content. But on a whim, I started adding tags that pertain to the photo. And that is where I started getting my hits.

My hits started coming from a classified ads site. Beside the ads, they had a brand new Google widget that shows pictures of the key words of the ad. In my case, a florist was selling pink carnations for mothers day, and I had a photo of a pink carnation in a garden. People would come to read the ad and then they would click on my photo. In other words, someone else would attract the traffic, and re-direct it to me courtesy of the Google Image Widget, a nice photograph, and properly constructed tags pertaining to the photo.

How do you determine proper tags? Let's suppose that I have the photo of the palm tree (above). Obviously the first tag is "palm tree". What are some other tags? Google will help you with that, because it knows the most popular search term. Like the photo above, you find the tags by what Google suggests are the most popular search terms. Click on the picture above and see what tags I chose for the web entry.

And there is one more thing to consider. When naming your picture or graphic, do not use image007 or the camera number like 1000C3458. Instead give it a name that is the same as the most popular Google search term. That way, when the key word is used anywhere else, and the site has the Google picture widget, your website will be presented to them as well. Instant free traffic for you, just by taking a bit of care with the pictures on your blog or website.

And if you want to know how to create the perfect ad for your website, don't forget to get my e-Book called "Top Secrets of The Google Ad Masters" -- click HERE!

Navigating Remote Computer Through a VPN

The handliners fishing in the Nassau Harbour

This entry has nothing to do with the picture. The picture is just eye candy. This is a tech tip. I am doing this blog entry mainly as a reminder to myself and anyone else who finds themselves in the same predicament. You connect to a remote host via VPN. You connect, your password is accepted and then what? You want to navigate around the remote host. How do you do it? Google is no help. At least I couldn't find it. And I forgot after I successfully did it many times in the past.

The way you do it, is this way. First connect the VPN. Once you are connected successfully, you can navigate. Here is how. Let's suppose that the IP address of the remote host is 192.168.2.5. Open up the "My Computer" window. In the address bar, where you see the directory listing, type; \\192.168.2.5\c$

That gets you the C: directory of the remote host and you can click through the navigation from there. I always forgot how to do this, and now when I google VPN navigation, I will get this entry.

De-husking Coconuts, Wasabi Peas, Barracuda Behavior -- Life Hacks

Killing Coconuts
So you have to de-husk a coconut. Where do you make the first cut. I have discovered by trial and error to cut the knobs off at the top. They are the easiest to chop off especially when the coconut is fibrous. Then I sink the machete on a vertical plane around the coconut, and stand the coconut on its pointy end. I then start chopping off the husks with downward slices.

This is particularly useful information for inhabitants of Canada, Iceland, Siberia and countries that do not see a lot of coconuts. If they come across a coconut tree growing on some forgotten fjord near the Arctic Circle, and are hungry, with this information they can survive. You are welcome.

Clearing Sinuses

Things are hellishly expensive in the tropics, especially snacks and "oddball" stuff. I am constantly on the lookout for relatively low calorie snacks, and wasabi peas fit that definition. When a local supermarket put them on sale at a $1.59 (US funds) a bag, I bought a pile of them. The usual price is about $189.99 per bag (OK, it is about $4.99). I tasted them and they didn't taste like seawater or motor oil, so it wasn't a shipment that fell into the harbour or off a dock somewhere.

So I snack on these things. I have a life hack though. EAT THESE THINGS ONE AT A TIME. The wasabi is not evenly distributed and you might get a super concentration of wasabi that takes your breath away, brings tears to your eyes for five full minutes, burns the inside of your mouth out, and makes you feel like you are being choked in hell.

The only positive after an episode like this, is that your sinuses are crystal clear.

Barracuda Behavior

Barracuda are scary. I was at the appropriately named Jaws Beach, and there was one as big as me, swimming around with his mouth open, displaying an amazing array of teeth that were pointed in all directions. One of our directors owns a boat and regularly goes fishing to the out islands. He witnessed a large barracuda attack on a dolphin ( a porpoise) that cut the dolphin in half.

Barracuda know that they are the apex predator. When I shoot at little ones with my Hawaiian sling, they duck the spear, and follow it down to see what the hell it was. When you shoot at other fish, they hightail it out of Dodge.

But I have noticed some peculiar behavior. Last Sunday, I tested my theory and it seemed to hold. I was spearfishing around this little coral outcrop that actually came above the surface of the ocean. It was a tiny little island the size of a patio. As I went around to the leeward side of the island, there was a cloud of barracuda -- maybe about 25. The amazing thing is that they were of four different sizes. There were the small guys, less than the size of my forearm. Then there were the medium guys, about the length of my arm. These were the most plentiful. The large guys were close to four feet, and there was a giant, about 5 feet long. They were just cruising, doing a lot of nothing. They were incredibly curious about me.

My theory is this. If you come to an apex predator in the ocean, and you want it to go away, you act like a larger predator. You don't want to make a lot of noise, or create a ruckus. That is what the little guys do when they are afraid. Also, you don't want to back away, because they follow you. That is prey behavior.

What I do is quietly advance on them. I do not do it in an aggressive fashion, because they have the fight or flight mechanism. If you come on too aggressively, they may choose to attack.

So I imperceptibly advance toward them. I do not splash with my fins. I do not extend my arms (don't want to offer bait), but slowly and surely I advance on them. They always retreat. I keep going until they move away completely, and then I turn around.

If this blog ends abruptly one day, you will know that my strategy has failed. But for now, so far so good.

This reminds me of the guy who fell off a sky scraper. As he fell passed each window, the occupants heard him say "So far, so good".

Life Hacks -- Getting Fiberglass Fibers Out of Your Hands

Yesterday, I was repairing a leak in the garage roof. I was using tar paper that was made with fiberglass fibers. The work gloves that I had were too bulky. So I used my bare hands. Big mistake. The tar paper shed tiny microscopic shards of glass that stuck into my skin. It was painful. You couldn't see the particles. They were that small.

I tried washing my hands. To no avail. I tried scrubbing them with a pot scrubber. It made the little shards go deeper into my skin. I tried using rough coarse salt as a scrubbing agent. I tried immersing my hands in olive oil to float off the shards. It didn't work. I tried skin lotion and liquid soap.

Finally, I soaked my hands for half an hour in the bathtub with the hottest water that I could stand. This was to open up the pores. Then I dipped my wet hands in whole wheat flour. The flour clung to my hands. I started rubbing my hands together, and the flour clumped and turned to dough. It still stuck to my hands. I had to roll the dough around until it formed up into a real resilient, plasticine-like consistency. As I rubbed it around it clung to my skin, and it removed the fiberglass shards from my skin.

Problem solved. Another little life hack. Next time, I will wear gloves.